Summers are amazing. Not for beach vacations or road trips, although those are fun, but because it’s your largest chunk of uninterrupted time to explore any and all interests you might have. We know, you’re mad we’re telling you that you gotta do work during the summer. Too bad!! You have Ivy League aspirations, you can’t slack off!
Don’t mope too long, because this is actually going to help you so much during your long quest toward college admissions. You need to use your time wisely and start exploring your potential passions, and bonus: if you don’t like it, you have lots of time to keep finding new things. Keep reading for some ideas on how to maximize your summer.
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Ok, so this one isn’t a resume builder, but it's key to finding out what you might be interested in. If you’re totally drawing a blank for potential areas of exploration, start by looking at your favorite classes at school. Maybe your parents or family or family friends work jobs you think are cool. Maybe there’s even a TV show that features a career path you might want to try! Once you identify some of these areas, you can start looking for books that will educate you more about those fields. Ask adults for recommendations!
Summer Programs
A few weeks on a beautiful campus exploring something new? Sounds cool to us. Once you’ve found a few big-picture areas of interest, it’s time to start looking at different summer programs that cater to that. Have a vague interest in writing? There are summer programs for that. Want to be a potential STEM major? There are programs that allow you to explore a variety of disciplines in just a few weeks.
Summer programs are great because they also let you get a lil’ taste of the college lifestyle! Being on campus with other academically minded peers might help you identify what types of schools you’re interested in and help you set goals for potential schools. You can even take more than one summer program! The world is your oyster.
Jobs (and internships and job shadowing)
A meaningful job or internship is hard to secure as a rising sophomore, but it’s not impossible. Maybe you do a junior clerkship with a judge or get a job doing social media for a local nonprofit. Not only can a job help you dive deep into an interest, but it helps show responsibility on your college applications.
Another option is job shadowing. As a freshman, they might not want to give you a lot of responsibilities, but they might let you learn by observing. If there’s a potential career path you have your eyes on, try reaching out to people and asking to shadow them for a week.
Online Classes
Beyond on-campus summer programs, you can find online classes for almost anything. Sites like The Great Courses, Coursera, and LinkedIn Learning all have free or low-cost options for teaching yourself a variety of topics. These classes can help you narrow down your interests from say, business, to investment banking. Once you finish a class, try and find another one that takes that interest a level deeper.
We know you want to spend your summer going nuts on binge-watching TikToks and sitting by the pool, and you can still do those things in moderation, but you also need to balance those out with some academic pursuits. It’s important to lay a solid foundation for your sophomore year so you can build on what you’ve learned and dive deeper into your chosen niche.
And like we said, if you end up not liking the thing you thought you would? You have time to change course and find something new. This summer is all about exploration and laying a base.
If you need help navigating high school, developing your extracurriculars, or planning your summer, reach out to us today.